Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson launched in BrainPOP Science & Social Studies April 20, 2016. Summary Appearances *Tim *Moby Transcript * Rachel Carson/Transcript Quiz * Rachel Carson/Quiz FYI Comics Around The World The 1960s was an important decade for environmental activism. Rachel Carson’s bestseller Silent Spring was published in 1962, highlighting the dangers of industrial chemicals and jumpstarting modern environmentalism. Within a couple of years, the 1964 Wilderness Act '''issued an order of protection for 9 million acres of American wilderness. U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas also began speaking out on behalf of environmental causes. It was only fitting that by the end of the decade a national day focused on environmental awareness was established. Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson proposed the idea of '''Earth Day '''and the inaugural celebration took place on Aprill 22, 1970. Millions of people in hundreds of communities around the country participated in various Earth Day activities. The swell of popular support encouraged politicians to enact vital pieces of environmental legislation in the years that followed. An extension to the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, and the Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1972. Senator Nelson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his efforts, and similar large-scale Earth Day events took place in 1990 and 2000. In recent years, Earth Day has turned into an annual experience, with April 22 seen as a chance to publicize pressing environmental issues around the world. '''The Modern World In 2015, nearly 200 world leaders met at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. 2015 also marked the hottest year on record thus far (2016 would be even hotter). For the first time, global average temperatures clocked in at more than 1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial temperature. Why is that significant? Well, the Industrial Revolution was when humans began converting fossil fuels into energy. This released carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which became the main driver of climate change. So, scientists use the pre-industrial temperature as a baseline to examine the impact of human-caused climate change. By 2015, the impact was dramatic: That year, every continent besides Antarctica experienced record or near-record warmth. One severe heat wave in Pakistan led to 1,000 deaths! The sea surface hit a record high temperature, too-whereas the amount of sea ice hit a record low, out of nearly four decades of reported numbers. Alpine glaciers continued retreating, for the 36th year in a row. And extreme weather was on the rise, too: 2015 saw one of the strongest El Niño events in more than 60 years. That led to more rain around the world, and major flooding in multiple regions. In other areas, severe droughts were on the rise. The aim of the Climate Change Conference was to address this extreme state of the planet. Attendees hammered out a pact called the Paris Agreement. The goal was to cap global temperature rise at 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100. Climate scientists have warned that a temperature rise greater than 2 degrees would lead to irreversible catastrophe. Leading up to the conference, the world was on course to experience a rise of 5 degrees! So how will the world's nations meet this target? By achieving carbon neutrality. In other words, by balancing out any carbon emissions with cuts elsewhere. For example, a country could offset factory emissions by planting a certain number of trees, which absorb carbon dioxide. Or, it could invest in renewable energy projects, like wind or solar energy. Or, it could enact a cap-and-trade policy: Companies that emitted more than their allowed share of carbon would pay penalties, and they could buy and sell allowances for more emissions. Nearly all the nations who gathered in 2015 have since ratified, or legally approved, the Paris Agreement. However, three countries have withdrawn: Nicaragua, in protest that the agreement doesn't go far enough to address climate change; Syria, which is battling a civil war; and the United States! President Donald Trump announced our withdrawal in June 2017, claiming the agreement would be a major blow to the American economy. Environmentalists, world leaders, and others-including members of Trump's own administration-fiercely opposed the decision. Policy experts say withdrawing from the agreement could take years, because of its language and legal structure. Still, the impact could be felt much sooner. The U.S. is the world's second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Our commitment to the accord would have accounted for over one-fifth of its emissions reduction goal. Plus, our withdrawal might convince other nations to give up on their pledges to cut emissions, too. It could also affect more than just the environment, damaging America's relationships with our international allies, as well. Way Back When In the late 1970s, parents in Niagara Falls, New York, began noticing that many of their kids were afflicted by serious health problems. Between 1974 and 1978, 56 percent of all children in one particular neighborhood were born with birth defects! A large number of other children in the surrounding area were suffering from conditions such as epilepsy and severe asthma. Perhaps even more frightening, a surprising number of pregnant women were having miscarriages. Eventually, the cause came oozing to the surface. The neighborhood, known as Love Canal, was built on top of thousands of tons of toxic waste. Hazardous chemicals had seeped into the groundwater, poisoning the entire community. For more than 30 years, a local chemical factory had been dumping waste at the Love Canal site. They used a clay barrier to seal it in, but that cracked as homes, roads, and sewage systems were constructed. The waste escaped, mixed with groundwater, and bubbled up to the surface. Foul-smelling puddles formed in people’s yards and basements. As the story unfolded, residents were shocked to discover that the local school board had bought a plot of land from the chemical company to build an elementary school... with full knowledge that it was already contaminated! President Jimmy Carter declared Love Canal a federal disaster site and evacuated 800 families. In 1995, the chemical company was forced to pay $129 million in damages to the affected families. Today, Love Canal is remembered as one of the most devastating environmental disasters in American history and a somber reminder of corporate negligence. Laws And Customs By the late 1960s, America’s waters were a mess. An oil slick on the Cuyahoga River in Ohio burst into flames. High levels of bacteria filled New York’s Hudson River. Record numbers of fish were dying from industrial plant discharges. And unsafe levels of the pesticide DDT were found in water samples taken from every corner of the country. To contend with these issues, the U.S. government passed the Clean Water Act of 1972. At the time, two-thirds of all bodies of water in the U.S. were considered unsafe for fishing and swimming, due in part to the unchecked dumping of sewage and other pollutants. The law set strict limits on exactly what substances factories and plants could release. It also instituted a permitting system for all companies that handled dangerous chemicals. In addition, the legislature provided billions of dollars in grants to build and improve public sewage-treatment plants. It called for “zero discharge of pollutants into navigable waters by 1985, and fishable and swimmable waters by 1983.” The Environmental Protection Agency was established in part to enforce the law's provisions. The Act worked: Many formerly contaminated bodies of water have been rehabilitated, establishing fishable and swimmable waters across much of the U.S. But in recent years, spending cutbacks and dips in public concern have started to threaten this progress. In 2004, the Sierra Club reported that America’s waterways were getting dirtier for the first time since the Clean Water Act was passed. As of 2012, an estimated 35 percent of American waters are still unfit for swimming or fishing. While the Clean Water Act accomplished much in terms of curtailing pollution, there's still plenty to be done if we want to fully restore American waters. Did You Know The use of DDT began during World War II to protect American soldiers stationed in tropical regions. Small doses were incredibly effective at killing disease-carrying bugs and the effects were long-lasting. DDT manufacturing was amped up in order to meet the rising demand of the military. Although it wasn't available for public use, the chemical quickly became a symbol of American ingenuity and national pride. To encourage support for the war on the home front, the government launched an advertising campaign promoting DDT. One ad featured Uncle Sam thwarting Adolph Hitler with one hand and eradicating a malaria-transmitting mosquito with the other. Another spot showed a woman spraying DDT, alongside the slogan, "Shoot to kill! Protect your victory garden!" A third asked Americans if they were "prepared to fight both enemies," meaning the Axis powers as well as our insect adversaries. The ads implied that DDT was an important weapon not only in combating disease but also in winning the war itself. It's no wonder there was an air of excitement when DDT first became available for general use in 1944. By that point, the environmental risks of DDT were widely understood in the scientific community, but they were mostly ignored by the media. Newspapers and magazines praised the chemical as "magic," "one of the greatest discoveries." It came to represent the power of humans over nature. It offered Americans the promise of being able to control diseases and epidemics. Until Carson's book Silent Spring raised the alarm about its dangers, DDT was a massive commercial hit. FYI Comic Newslea https://newsela.com/read/bio-scientists-environmentalists-rachel-carson/id/29196/ Category:BrainPOP Episodes Category:Science Category:Ecology & Behavior Category:Famous Scientists Category:Our Fragile Environment Category:Social Studies Category:Famous Historical Figures Category:Women's History Category:2016 episodes Category:Episodes in April Category:Diversity of Life Category:April 2016 Episodes